There was that feeling in his gut again. Sympathy? It can’t be.
“No chance he’d be sold as a pet?”
“The poison is worth more than all the rest of him.”
Dragon hide. Claws. Scales. Teeth. Wings. Every bit of it was a high-priced commodity.
“And the blood?” he asked.
She didn’t answer at first. She just sat and sat and sat, making part of him wish he were elsewhere, anywhere but there.
After several minutes passed, Finnius cleared his throat.
“Ah,” she said, “I keep all of that.” She stretched out her arms as she got up and said, “Keep up the effort, Finnius, and I’ll show you things you never could have dreamed of. But for now, I’m going to reveal a little more. I’m going to show you what is next in store for Nath Dragon.”
CHAPTER 14
The reveling of the goblins didn’t show any signs of slowing, and I was tired of waiting. And their chants were getting annoying.
“TUMBA—TUMBA—TUMBA—TUMBA …”
I wanted to shoot them all. Stupid sing-songy goblins. Brenwar might disagree with me, but he pretty much disagreed with me most of the time. The longer the goblins sang, drank, ate, and fought one another, the worse I felt for the dragon.
As she lay curled up in her cage, the goblins danced around the bars and taunted her. And why not? After all, they had captured her. But the swill they drank gave them a little too much courage. Now, if I'd seen a lock on the cage, I could have shot it with an arrow and shattered it. But this cage was solid steel bars bolted down into the stone. No lock or door in sight. The truth was, I didn’t have any idea how we’d get the dragon out until we got down there. I punched Brenwar in the arm.
His popped open his eye and asked, “What are ye thinking, Dragon?”
“How are we going to get the dragon out? She's sealed in that cage.”
“Well, we might just have to kill them all first and figure it out later. Or we can interrogate one after another until we figure it out.”
“You think you can take thirty goblins and whatever or whoever that thing on the throne is?”
He peeked over the wall.
“Certainly.”
Now it was my turn to grunt. The throned man, humanoid, or whatever it was, bothered me. It had barely moved an inch the entire time I’d been here. It just sat in its robes, hands and feet covered, moving its head in slow nods and shakes when the goblins spoke to it. It was big, too, bigger than me, not that it bothered me. I wondered if it was the winged ape.
“Do you think it’s a mage or a cleric? A sage or druid?”
Brenwar rested his war hammer on his chest, leaned back along the wall, and shrugged.
“It doesn’t matter what it is.” He licked his thumb and ran it along his blade. “It will be dead soon enough.”
Being around Brenwar didn’t make controlling my urges to fight any easier. He was a bad influence. I just didn’t understand why I was held to a higher standard. Brenwar was good and noble, but he could kill in battle without regret or consequence, it seemed. But as Father had told me, “To each kind their own purposes. Your purpose is different than theirs.”
My eyes went back and forth between the dragon and the man on the throne. The thing on the throne bothered me. Mages, wizards, warlocks, and witches were all a cunning bunch. They loved traps and wards and little creatures called familiars. The familiars really kept a close eye on things and could be most anything, in most cases small: cats, birds, lizards, snakes, monkeys, or even mice. That’s just a few samples, and they can be much odder things. So I'm always careful around any animals that look at me too long, but so far, in this hideout I’d hardly seen a thing. Everything had been going well—too well.
“Something’s wrong,” I said.
Brenwar eyed me. He’d been around me long enough to know my instincts are often right.
The commotion in the grand hall came to a stop.
I felt my spine tighten from my waist to my neck. The hairs on my neck stood on end when I saw two goblins dragging another goblin in. And it wasn’t just any goblin, either. It was the one we’d throttled and bribed in the woods. The goblins shoved the broken prisoner onto his knees before the throne. Its body shook as it fought against its bonds and cried out for mercy. I got the feeling that it would have been better off if we'd killed it ourselves. We could have been merciful, at least.
“Brenwar, I think our time is up.”
The figure on the stone chair leaned forward. The goblin cried out, only to be silenced with a sharp blow to the back of its head from a goblin soldier.
One of the guards set the coins I’d given it down on the steps. I could see the big one sitting in the middle, twinkling in the torchlight like a tiny sun.
The goblin spilled his guts. I could hear the conversation, and the goblin told all that he knew, which wasn’t so bad. For all he knew or they knew, we weren’t within miles of the place. How would we get in, anyway? The figure in the robes sat upright at the mention of my dragon arm, however. The figure stood up taller than I had even figured. Seven feet high at least. Then another pair of goblins, from another direction, rushed in. One was holding a grappling hook.
“Uh oh,” Brenwar said, checking the straps on his armor.
I slid two arrows from my quiver. I nocked one and bit down on the other.
I knew things had been too easy.
CHAPTER 15
I got my first good look at the figure in the robes. Its hands and fingers were large, clawed, and hairy, like a bugbear or gnoll. The figure reached down, grabbed the prisoner by the neck, and hoisted him high in the air. Every other goblin slunk back. Some froze, and the hot air seemed too cool, with icy intensity. The goblin's feet twitched in the air as the figure carried him down the steps for all to see. Then, in a loud male voice, the figure spoke words of power… ancient and mystic.
A sliver of ice went down my spine. A magic user! Always unpredictable.
His hands burst into flame, and the goblin's face caught fire as it screamed, twitched, and died. A pungent smell wafted my way: burnt goblin skin and hair. The figure dropped the goblin to the floor, where it fell apart like pieces of a charred tree. The magic user held his arm up for all to see. It was radiant with red, yellow, and blue flames that danced from one hand to the other. He was a formidable one, to control magic like that. Still, what he was, I wasn’t so sure.
The magic user clapped his hands together. The fires extinguished as he spoke in a thick voice.
“Find them.”
At least it was a man, but what kind of man I wasn’t certain.
“I’m shooting him,” I said.
“No, wait,” Brenwar warned. “There’ll be less of them to shoot in a moment. They’ll be searching these endless tunnels for hours trying to find us, if we’re careful. Shoot now and they all swarm us.”
Point taken, but I didn’t like it. I wanted to move. I needed to get down there and see if Fang could hew through that dragon cage. Below, the goblins, most of them half drunk or worse, fumbled through their gear and stumbled into the surrounding tunnels. One moment footsteps echoed everywhere, the next moment they faded away. Three goblins remained, surrounding the dragon’s cage, armed with battle axes, swords, and spears. I noticed the throne of the magic user was vacant. The magic user was nowhere in sight. The gold coins on the steps were still there, however. Excellent!
“I’ve got a plan.”
Brenwar eyed me and said, “You do?”
Remember those gold coins I gave that goblin? Well, they aren’t coins. They’re something else, an item from Father’s treasure trove I learned to use long ago. I muttered some words of magic of my own. My human fingertips tingled as I twirled them around. One by one, each coin rose on its edge and began to roll.
Brenwar huffed under his beard, “Magic.” Then he moved on. He had some idea what I was thinking. He usually did.
Tink. Tink. Tink.
Down the steps the
y came, rolling over the stone floor toward the dragon cage. The goblins eyed the coins, one looking at the other, curiosity filling their blurry yellow eyes.
“Just keep watching,” I muttered under my breath.
The coins circled the cage once then stopped upright, and each fell before a different goblin. They wanted to grab those coins, each of them; I could feel it. One scratched his head. The other bent forward. The third kept an eye on the throne before stooping closer.
Poof. Poof. Poof.
Each coin burst into a cloud of gold dust that coated a goblin from head to toe. They coughed, hacked, and clutched at their necks before falling over. Not dead, mind you. Just sleeping.
Those coins, well, as I said, they came in handy. I’d figured if that goblin we met ever came back to the hideout and ratted us out, we’d need all the help we could get. So I planted my own surprise just in case. I hopped off the balcony, landing like a cat on the main floor as the gold dust settled.
One of the goblins started snoring.
The dragon, well, she was sitting up in her cage, tail swaying back and forth. She was so beautiful, her scales like shiny blue shields with jagged streaks of black. Her long lashes batted as she stared at me. She was fine.
“It won’t be long,” I said. “I’ll have you out of here soon.”
I tugged at the metal on the bars. It was thicker than I could bend. There was no cage door, either, just where the iron was bolted to the stone. Perhaps Brenwar’s hammer could bust it up, or perhaps my sword could cut through it.
“Stand back,” I said, drawing Fang.
The dragon reared back and struck at me with an angry hiss. Her razor-sharp teeth snapped at me.
“What?” I said. “You have to trust me.” I drew Fang back again.
She hissed, louder this time. Opened her mouth to release her breath. I lowered Fang and backed away.
Brenwar appeared at my side, pushed me back, and said, “It’s magic.”
“What do you mean?”
“See the markings on the floor?”
Oh, now I saw them. Arcane symbols and designs were beneath the dragon’s feet. The cage was woven with similar designs as well. It left me cold. These dragon poachers were more than what they appeared to be. That was when the unsettling feeling crept back in between my neck and shoulders.
“Heh-heh-heh … go ahead,” a disturbing voice said. “Go ahead, cut into the cage and see what happens.”
It was the voice of the magic user, who now stood on the balcony where Brenwar and I had stood earlier.
“The only person who can open that cage is me. And if anyone else tries to open it by any other means, it will be very, very painful for the dragon. Deathly so.”
The figure flicked a lance of energy from his fingers. It sailed over my ducking head, striking the cage bars. The blue razor roared and fluttered her wings, curling back up on the floor in a tight knot.
“Drop your weapons unless you want to see the dragon start to smoke,” the magic user warned.
Over the years, I’d faced, fought, dropped, kicked, and punched my share of wizards, shamans, and illusionists. And like I said, they were a crafty bunch. And sometimes, when they got the drop on you, it was best to do as you were told. I looked around. All the goblins that had been gone had returned now, and then some.
“I’m not surrendering to any goblin, Dragon,” Brenwar growled under his beard.
I set Fang on the ground and held my hands up.
“I don’t think there’s much choice.”
CHAPTER 16
With the essence of the dragon's life linked to her cage, there wasn’t much choice other than to give up. The pair of goblin soldiers took my sword and bow along with Brenwar’s hammer while the others surrounded us. Above, the magic user jumped from the balcony and descended slowly, robes softly touching the floor.
The goblins held our arms while two others started to bind them.
“Leave them be,” the magic user proclaimed, “and bring them to my throne.”
The magic user took his seat as we were shoved onto the steps.
“Don’t do that again, goblin!” Brenwar warned, rising back to his feet, only to be shoved down again.
“That’s it!”
Brenwar stuffed his heel in one's belly and shattered the knee of the next, making it let out a cry of pain.
“Enough!” The magic user said. “Let the prisoner be.”
Finally, the man pulled back his hood.
“I am Corzan the Necromancer. Lord of the Burrow Goblins.”
Lord of the Burrow Goblins? Hah! I wanted to laugh but could not. I could laugh at a goblin, yes, but him, no. He worried me. My eyes met his. What I saw was unsettling.
Corzan had the devilish features of a goblin but was still a man. His face was ill tempered and scarred. A sorcerer of many battles won and lost. His eyes were dark, intelligent, and probing. But he didn’t look like a necromancer. No, too rough around the edges, very atypical of his ilk. His hair was long, thin, and black as coal, and his sideburns came down to form a beard that hung inches below his chin. His ears were clipped in metal points at the top and bottom. I’d never seen that style before, but it looked uncomfortable. His strange hands were coarse haired and rough, with dark metal armbands wrapped around his wrists. He sighed as he folded his fingers and set them down in his lap, showing the humanity that he must have possessed at some time before. His serene gesture gave me no additional comfort at all. He was trouble.
“So, I can only assume you have come to steal my dragon?”
“It’s not your dragon, Corzan. Dragons are free creatures. Such is the way on Nalzambor. Dragon poaching is a crime, well known in all the world.”
“Hah!” He slapped the stone arm of his throne. “Dragon poaching has been around all my life and always will be. The people of this world capture, hunt, and eat the other creatures to decorate their tables. Cows, sheep, horses, goats―and no one complains. I don’t see how dragons are any different.”
That last phrase really got me going. My nerves inflamed as I stepped forward.
“Dragons aren’t animals! They are the oldest race on Nalzambor. Vastly superior to the likes of you—poachers.”
Corzan motioned with his arm and said, “And yet one sits in my cage. Hah, I hardly consider them superior. Quite easy to catch, skin, and eat, like any other rodent.”
Red faced, I stepped forward again, only to have four goblins lower their spears at my belly. I had Brenwar to think about, too. And getting myself killed wasn’t going to do the dragon any good. I had to settle down. Think things out. I let my anger subside.
“So, you are Nath Dragon, I see. Every bit as ill tempered as the troubadours sing. It’s nice to see it for myself, but something is different.” His eyes shimmered with light as he waved his hand.
My dragon arm shot up in the air. I fought to pull it down but could not. I’d lost control.
“What are you doing, Corzan? Let me go!”
“Fascinating!” Corzan said, eyeing my arm like a splendid robe of wizards. “Hah, it seems maybe my comments about the dragon might be wrong. Either that, or you are part animal. Of course, I’m sure you consider yourself part dragon.” He returned to his seat. “There you go.”
I gasped as my arm was freed. I didn't know what had happened, but this necromancer wasn't one to fool with. No one had ever taken control of my body before.
“How did you do that?” I said, rubbing my dragon arm.
“Like I said, I’m a necromancer, and I know things about dragons.” Corzan pulled out his necklace of bronze dragon scales and claws. “Certainly you of all people understand the mystic powers of these things.”
He was right. Dragon parts could be used against the dragons to control them and make them do one's will. Many dragons had been used to commit evil acts against their will, while some dragons didn’t mind doing evil. Just like the Necromancer bound the blue dragon to her cell, he’d done something similar to
me. I wasn’t sure how, but I did realize that with my dragon arm, I might be more vulnerable than I had previously understood.
“Impressive, Corzan, but I’m still here, and I can only assume you want something from me.” I might as well be nice about it. “Care to share?”
“Very well, Nath Dragon… your enemies are close.”
I looked around.
“I can see that.”
“No, we are not your enemy. Just your captors. The Clerics of Barnabus, now they are your enemies.”
My stomach churned at the mention of their name.
“And you would be selling this dragon to my enemies, which would make you my enemy. All the dragon poachers are my enemies. So please, don’t try to use clever words to imply that you are not my enemy, Corzan.”
“As you wish.” He shrugged. “If it makes you feel better to be my sworn enemy, then I guess I can live with that. But the Clerics of Barnabus are not my allies, either. I have my own ambitions, Dragon. My own wants, needs, and desires. Lord of the Burrow Goblins? Do you think I was born for that?” He slammed his fist down on his throne. “No! I am cursed by it!” He clutched his hairy fingers. “Look at these hands. Have you ever seen a man with such hands before?”
“Have you ever seen one with a dragon arm before?”
Corzan brightened. A glimmer of humanity returned in his eyes.
“Huh… touché. But, honestly, a dragon arm or goblin hands, which would you take?”
I smiled and said, “I think you know the answer to that. Now, can you back up and tell me about this issue with the Clerics?”
“They pay well for the dragons but for information on you as well. They want you dead, but I need you alive.”
“Pardon?” I should have been elated by the statement, but I wasn’t. Alive for what? “First things first.” I pointed at the blue razor.
“I trapped the dragon to trap you. And my plan worked out all so well, thanks to your friend the dwarf.”
The Chronicles of Dragon Collection (Series 1 Omnibus, Books 1-10) Page 13
